1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a label application device for applying a label to an article, wherein the label is fixed with a so-called RFID tag having an IC chip therein for storing various information.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a recent widely used technology, an IC (integrated circuit) chip for storing various information and a RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag comprising a communication antenna connected to the IC chip are together fixed inside a label which may be applied to various articles, to provide wireless, non-contact automatic identification by means of the RFID tag.
FIG. 19 hereof shows a label L which is fixed with a RFID tag T. The label L comprises an outer display layer U and an inner adhesion layer B, at the back of the display layer U. The adhesion layer is fixed on the RFID tag T. The display layer U and the adhesion layer B are serially tacked on a strip-shaped backing paper D.
The RFID tag T is conventionally configured with an IC chip Ta and a communication antenna Tb and is protected by a film layer P which covers the whole.
A label application device applies the label L, to which the RFID tag T is fixed, to an article. A conventional label application device, for example, proposed previously by the present applicant/assignee hereof, is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-104521. This label application device conveys a label L, which is tacked on a backing paper D, and adheres the label L at a predetermined attachment position by means of an attachment plate after the label L is released from the backing paper D and the device applies the label L, which is then adhered by the attachment plate, to an article at a predetermined attachment position on the article.
Incidentally, with a UHF RFID tag T in a label L which has been applied by such a conventional label application device, if the material or content of an article to which the label L is applied may disturb the electromagnetic wave, in other words, for example, if the material or content of the article contains metal, water, or the like, although depending on the frequency, a problem may occur because the electromagnetic wave is absorbed into the article due to the influence of the metal or the liquid such as water in the article, or a reader/writer cannot read or write the information of the IC chip Ta due to a disturbance in the electromagnetic wave caused by diffuse reflection.
The present invention concerns the above described problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a label application device which affixes a label, having a portion thereof to which a RFID tag has been applied, to an article with the portion having the tag protruding from the label to form an angle to the direction of extension of the label, which angle separates the RFID tag from the article. The influence on the RFID tag from the article to which the RFID tag is applied can be reduced, whereby stable reading and writing of data can be secured.